District Attorney David Roger said Thursday that he will throw the book at everyone involved in the Easter weekend spree of group attacks around the valley.

"This mob mentality is shocking to myself and to the public. We plan to take a strong stand against these hoodlums, who have very little regard for human life," he said, referring to the 10 to 15 young men and women who pummeled an MGM Grand worker on April 15 and who are suspected of being involved in at least five other attacks in the same weekend.

Roger also said Thursday that prosecutors have not ruled out the possibility of adding hate crime or gang crime enhancements to charges leveled against the suspects. Hate crime or gang crime enhancement of charges doubles the maximum punishment.

"We are continuing to look at the information produced by detectives," Roger said. "It's a little early to tell whether we will charge an enhancement for hate crimes or as a gang enhancement. We have to wait for them to continue their investigation."

The possibility that the spree will be classified for a gang crime enhancement appears more likely than the hate crime possibility.

Police said that they found gang paraphernalia in some of the homes of the teens who have been arrested in connection with the spree and that an associate of at least one of the suspects is a member of the Donna Street Crips gang.

The parents and friends of several of the teens who have been arrested have said that the attacks were not gang- or race-related.

All of the victims in the attacks are white, all of the known defendants are black, and a Las Vegas police detective said in an arrest report that the beatings could be hate crimes.

But detectives have not found evidence the attacks were based on racial hatred, and none of the victims or suspects has said the attacks were racially motivated, Deputy Chief Greg McCurdy said Thursday.

"We have no indication that this is a hate crime whatsoever," he said.

Roger said the case will be heard by a grand jury, meaning prosecutors plan to seek an indictment instead of having the case presented in Justice Court during a preliminary hearing.

As of Thursday night, police had announced seven arrests related to the spree. All of those arrested are teens. Two are girls. Police continue to say that more arrests are imminent.

Detectives think the group was responsible for a string of attacks in the wee hours of April 15 and 16.

The attacks included a robbery and beating outside a North Las Vegas Wal-Mart, the swarm attack on two landscapers at the MGM Grand, the looting of a northwest Las Vegas convenience store where a man was punched in the face while at the gasoline pumps and a robbery and shooting at Pioneer Park.

Review-Journal staff writer Brian Haynes contributed to this report.